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THE BIG BOOMNOT YOURS ANYMORETHE POWER MAPMINING FOR THE MACHINETHE DAILY BIG DROPYES, IT’S THAT BADWHO WROTE INRuleTraceCOME ON INHOMESIGN UP FOR FREE
The players behind the AI data-center build-out — tech, utility, government, and legal figures
The Big Drop · June 2026
AI Data-Modeling Investigation

The Power
Map

Private money.
Public power.

The who’s who of the AI build-out is racing to construct ever-larger data centers, expanding its reach into the public sector by donating to elected officials and through the many law firms and affiliated entities enlisted to secure the best deal. These projects can be vast—as large as 44 big-box stores—and the facilities can sound like a rocket idling.

Exclusive
Meta’s $27B Hyperion
The Shell · The Governor
· The Lobbyists
PLUS—OpenAI, Microsoft & who’s next
Starring Zuckerberg · Altman · Nadella · Pichai · Huang · Amodei · Jassy · Musk · Ellison · Landry · Scalise · Carter
The series is just getting going
6
Maps published
$98B+
Construction costs
115
Entities documented
100%
From public records
Latest mapmost recent completed edition
No. 01—Meta · HyperionPublished

The $27 Billion Data Center Coming to Richland Parish

Meta Platforms, Inc., the company that changed the way people get to know each other, won big after its subsidiary, Laidley LLC (a limited liability company), entered Richland Parish—one of the poorest parishes in Louisiana—in 2024. Eager to expand its business, Entergy, the state’s largest utility, worked with Meta and local officials to secure major tax breaks for the data center, while winning approval to build three gas-fired units to serve Hyperion—the project’s real name after Meta dropped its code phrase, “Project Sucre.”

With its balance sheet insulated, Meta then adopted a “deal or no deal” stance. The ultimatum was clear: grant $3.3 billion in tax breaks to secure the 1,400-acre Franklin Farm Mega Site, or the company would walk away. Meta got its way.

$27B build~$3.3B tax relief$3.78M lobbying10 entities
Source · the Hyperion record
Read the map
Meaning first — the documented record sits beneath each one
WHAT EACH RELATIONSHIP MEANSNine ties, nine receipts
Documented connections, not allegationsEvery claim carries a record
Hyperion → Laidley LLC

THE FRONT

Meta negotiated the purchase of the Hyperion site through a subsidiary. The state’s largest utility backed the project, anticipating significant returns — and got them.

The receipt
Delaware Secretary of State · Louisiana Secretary of State (foreign LLC)
Laidley LLC → Meta

THE DISGUISE

Governor Jeff Landry and key Entergy executives knew early on it was Meta, while many lawmakers had no idea and were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements.

The receipt
Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) Docket U-37425
Entergy → Hyperion

THE BILL

During a non-fiscal legislative session, state officials then rewrote an unrelated broadband bill to grant Meta a sales tax exemption on servers and equipment.

The receipt
LPSC U-37425 · Earthjustice
Gov. Landry → Hyperion

THE INCENTIVES

Under the governor’s incentive package, Meta secured a $3.3 billion tax break to build its data center in Richland Parish, a community whose economy had seen better days.

The receipt
State of Louisiana
Richland Parish → Hyperion

THE CONCESSION

Local officials approved sweeping land-use variances and tax breaks required to greenlight the project.

The receipt
Richland Parish Police Jury
Meta → Meta Platforms PAC

THE VEHICLE

Meta’s corporate political action committee (PAC) is the conduit for its federal candidate contributions.

The receipt
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Meta PAC → Rep. Scalise

THE DELEGATION

$4,000 to the Majority Leader from Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District, whose seat and committees touch energy and technology.

The receipt
FEC
Meta PAC → Rep. Carter

THE DELEGATION

$3,000 to the Louisiana 2nd Congressional District member who represents the host state in Congress.

The receipt
FEC
NINE TIES. NINE RECEIPTS. ZERO GUESSWORK →Proximity documented · not a quid pro quo · verify before acting
Every mapthe full index — published and in reporting
No. 01Published
Meta · Hyperion

The cost of progress—$27B

Inside the data—and the relationships—behind Meta’s Hyperion project in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

Read the map
No. 02Published
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) RM26-4

Who writes the rules of the grid

Six hyperscalers are on the record asking FERC for specific rule language, and six grid operators have been ordered to rewrite the tariffs that govern those companies’ access. The filings due August 17 are where the test runs.

Read the map
No. 03Published
OpenAI · Stargate/Abilene

The names on the paper at Stargate

Six limited-liability companies chartered the day after the Stargate announcement, an 85 percent tax break signed with a landlord named Lancium—and no Abilene government document that names OpenAI, Oracle, Crusoe, or Stargate.

Read the map
No. 04Published
Microsoft

The invisible tenant

Two $6.3 billion buildings in Abilene owned by numbered shells, a restarted Three Mile Island under a 20-year contract, a $1 billion federal loan—and the federal order enabling it never mentions the company’s name.

Read the map
No. 05Published
Google

The $40 billion name not on the paper

Armstrong County abated 100 percent of its property tax for a Delaware shell at Crusoe’s address. Google claims the campus only in its own press, and control of a first segment has already been transferred—to a Delaware entity whose parent no public record discloses.

Read the map
No. 06Published
Amazon

One company, two names on the paper

One Amazon subsidiary bought the campus next to a nuclear plant; another—which filed at FERC for years as AZ721 LLC—signed the power. The split is disclosed only in counterparties’ filings, and the rebuilt 1,920-megawatt (MW) deal was structured to need no FERC approval at all.

Read the map
What every map measuresone shared taxonomy across all editions
Shell LLCs

Special vehicles that tech giants use to win favorable terms before disclosing their true identities.

Companies

Big tech companies behind the deals are worth far more today than during the dot-com boom.

Utilities & Infrastructure

Utility operators providing the power, water, sewage, and data networks required to make the site functional.

Officials & regulators

Municipalities, zoning boards, and other agencies that enforce code compliance and issue operational permits.

PACs & contributions

Employee-funded and political action committees that support and advocate to align industry goals with policy.

Lobbying & counsel

Legal experts managing high-stakes litigation and government-relations strategists shaping public policy.

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